Ben Askren

On a night that many expected Askren's smothering top position and submissions to do Karl Amoussou in, it was Askren's new ground-and-pound that put away the Frenchman in his latest Bellator welterweight title defense in the main event of Bellator 86 on Thursday night at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

Prior to the bout, Askren predicted a finish and he delivered. It was his second stoppage under the Bellator banner and his first since he submitted Ryan Thomas in his promotional debut back in April 2010.

Bellator's coming out party on Spike's airwaves resumes tonight with Bellator 86, emanating from the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma and headlined by a welterweight world title tilt between champion Ben Askren and challenger Karl Amoussou.

The return of Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal tops the undercard which will complete the light heavyweight tournament quarterfinals and kick off the welterweight pairings as well. The main card festivities begin at 10 PM ET on Spike. You can also watch all of the preliminary bouts starting at 8 PM ET right here on MMA on Tap.

After the jump, check out five things that you should watch for during tonight's telecast.

All of the participants for Bellator 82 successfully made weight in preparation for their bouts on Friday evening at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. The preliminary fights will air live on Spike.com followed by the main card on MTV2.

The card will be headlined by the Season 7 welterweight tournament final featuring Lyman Good and Andrey Koreshkov. The winner will receive $100,000 plus a shot at Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. Also on the card will be a battle between middleweight sluggers Doug Marshall and Kala Hose.